Drop inlet construction for fare boxes



Jan. 3, 1956 w. E. STRAUBEL ET AL DROP INLET CONSTRUCTION FOR FARE BOXES 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed June 22, 1951 FIG. 2

1956 w. E. STRAUBEL ET AL DROP INLET CONSTRUCTION FOR FARE BOXES 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed June 22, 1951 FIG. 4

m BY w ATTORNEY Jan. 3, 1956 Filed June 22, 1951 w. E. STRAUBEL ET AL 2,729,391

DROP INLET CONSTRUCTION FOR FARE BOXES 5 Sheets-Sheet I5 W TORI aw MAL y (M/C ATTORNEY United States Patent 2,729,391 7 DROP INLET CONSTRUCTION FOR FARE BOXES Walter E. Straubel, Johnston, and Max L. Grant, Providence, R. L; said Straubel assignor to said Grant Application June 22, 1951, Serial No. 233,018 1 Claim. (Cl. 232-7) The present invention relates to fare boxes for receiving coins, tokens, tickets and the like, and has particular reference to a novel drop inlet construction therefor.

The principal object of the inventionis to provide a novel drop inlet construction designed to drop-receive fares and to pass the dropped fares in separated parallel relation to a fare receiver.

Another object of the invention is to provide a novel drop inlet for coins and the like which receives one or more dropped coins and directs and turns the dropped coins to exit in parallel relation through a slot of less width than the smallest coin diameter.

An additional object of the invention is to provide a novel drop inlet arrangement which aligns and separates dropped coins to exit in sequence therefrom.

A further object of the invention is to provide a novel drop inlet which permits free passage of coins and tickets to a fare receiver while preventing insertion of coin pilfering instruments.

With the above and other objects and advantageous features in view, the invention consists of a novel arrangement of parts more fully disclosed in the detailed description following, in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, and more specifically defined in the claims appended thereto.

In the drawings,

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of an illustrative fare box embodying the novel drop inlet construction;

Fig. 2 is an enlarged longitudinal section through the drop inlet of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a top plan view of Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is a bottom plan view of Fig. 2;

Fig. 5 is a section on the line 55 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 6 is a section on the line 66 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 7 is a section on the line 77 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 8 is a view similar to Fig. 2, disclosing a modified construction;

Fig. 9 is a section on the line 99 of Fig. 8; and

Fig. 10 is a perspective view of the lower drop box of Fig. 9.

' It has been found desirable to provide a drop inlet construction for a fare box into which a number of fares, such as coins, tokens, and tickets, may be freely dropped, the parts being arranged so that the fares are aligned to exit in dispersed relation from the drop inlet. To this end, I provide a drop inlet which includes an inlet opening of substantial size for receiving a number of fares, and a coin receiving compartment having a tapered guide portion and inclined walls converging to an exit slot of elongated and relatively narrow width, the exit slot being spaced from the guide portion so that fares cannot directly enter the slot from the inlet opening but become aligned and separated by the tapered guide portion, whereby the fares exit from the slot in parallel dispersed relation into the fare box body. If desired, the novel arrangement may be used in multiple to further separate the fares, this being particularly desirable when the fare box includes a coin registering device.

Referring to the drawings, the illustrative fare box 10 includes a drop inlet 11, a body 12, and a fare receiver 13 of the removable type, whereby inserted fares are transferred to the receiver and may be registered and totalized during their transfer. The drop inlet 11 is preferably of elongated rectangular shape to seat over the entire upper portion of the fare box, and is preferably of transparent material such as transparent plastic, to permit a clear view of the dropped fares and to disclose the insertion of holdback devices for retaining dropped coins so thatthey do not pass through to the fare box body.

As illustrated in Fig. 3, the drop inlet 11 has an inclined upper wall 14 with an inlet opening 15 of large size, into which a number of coins, tokens, or tickets may be simultaneously dropped. As the fares drop, they enter a receiving chamber 16 and impact a concave guide trough 17 which has an elongated rear wall 18, inclining downwardly in a straight path (Fig. 8), said elongated rear wall being concavely curved in its transverse cross section and the radius of curvature progressively decreasing toprovide narrowing sides 19, 20. The trough further comprises inclined side walls 21, 22, the trough and side walls converging to an elongated exit slot 23 of substantially less width than the diameter of a ten cent piece, whereby the dropped coins turn as they drop, note Figs. 6, 7 and 5,

and slide down the side walls and roll down the guide trough to align with and to exit through the slot. The angle of the side walls is sufiiciently steep to ensure substantially free sliding of the coins.

The slot 23 is displaced in relation to the inlet opening 15, note Fig. 2, and covered by the upper wall 14, whereby the dropped coins impact the guide trough 17 at different points and turn as they travel downwardly to the exit slot. This turning results in separation of the coins, and eliminates bridging, whereby the coins go through the exit slot in sequence.

When the fare box is to be used for tickets as well as coins and tokens, the slot 23 is preferably of a width to accommodate at least two coins to prevent bridging, but experience has shown that sufiicient separation normally occurs to exit the coins in sequence.

When complete separation is desired, as for instance when the fare box has registering mechanism for registering coins and tokens in sequence, it is preferred to position a supplemental drop guide 24 below the slot 23, note Figs. 8, 9 and 10, whereby the coins leaving the slot 23 impact a tapered guide trough 25, and are guided by a curved end wall 26 and tapered side walls 27, 28 to a narrow outlet slot 29.

The impacting of the coins on the tapered guide surfaces and the tapered side walls provides the desired coin separation, this separation being aided by positioning the back side wall 28 of the drop 24 to be inclined as illustrated in Fig. 9, the back side wall being preferably of less height than the front side wall 27.

The coins issuing from the exit slot 29 are in separated parallel relation, and can therefore be guided to an inspection area, such as indicated in Fig. 1 by a track or the like 30, which is preferably inclined and provided with a slot 31, whereby the coins drop into a coin box or a coin registering device.

The above described construction thus provides a simple and effective arrangement for guiding dropped coins, tokens and the like to a narrow exit slot in separated sequential relation, by forcing the dropped coins to impact a curved surface of progressively decreasing radius, whereby the coins turn or twist and contact tapered side walls down which they slide while simultaneously rolling along the curved impact surface, and thus successively pass through the exit slot. The upper wall of the drop inlet is preferably slanted down towards the back of the 3 fare box to facilitate the dr pping of coins and the like by the passengers.

The drop inlet construction has a further advantage in that it is effective for preventing pilfering of coins from the fare box, as the angular relation of the parts reduces the possibility of using wires or flexible bands for abstraction of .coins. Thus, a flexible band if inserted through the slot 23 is edgewise to a coin track or to a supplemental drop, note Fig. 8, whereby a serrated front edge, or a swing flap of standard type, will catch the wire or band and prevent withdrawal.

Although we have disclosed a specific constructional embodiment of the invention, it is obvious that changes in the size, shape, and arrangement of the parts may be made to suit different fare box requirements, without departing from the spirit and the scope of the invention as defined in the claim appended thereto.

I claim:

,A drop inlet for a fare box having an upper wall, an inlet opening in said upper wall of large size adapted to simultaneously receive a number of fare elements dropped thereinto, a receiving chamber below the inlet opening comprising a guide trough having an elongated end wall of transverse concave curvature and inclining downwardly in a straight path from one end of the opening towards the other end of the opening, said transverse curvature having a progressively decreasing radius throughout its downward incline, and flat side walls extending from the elongated edges of the end wall in downwardly converging relation, the lower ends of the end wall and the side walls terminating in the same horizontal plane and forming an elongated exit slot substantially narrower than the diameter of a small coin, said exit slot being horizontally displaced ,in relation to the opening and positioned below and underlying the upper wall.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS D. 161,689 Grant Jan. 23, 1951 221,943 Sergeant Nov. 25, 1879 269,195 Golding Dec. 19, 1882 357,756 Beaman Feb. 15, 1887 1,268,723 Johnson June 4, 1918 1,344,841 Woodward June 29, 1920 1,353,970 Mullett Sept. 28, 1920 1,570,419 Wolkenhauer Jan. 19, 1926 2,430,473 Main "Nov. 11, 1947 2,521,295 Keeler Sept. 5, 1950 

